Crafting isn’t just about beauty—it’s about resistance, storytelling, and reclaiming women’s work. Discover the radical roots of craft and why it still matters.
You're so right Donna. And that first step — going from the blank page to a first sentence, an empty canvas to a brush stroke, or a fluff of wool into a shape — is potent magic indeed.
Angela, me too. I think as we women get older we do rekindle our relationship with creativity as an energy... A life force. A creative life force. And making and crafting and creating is a really beautiful way into that energy that, for so many of us, gets blocked off and put on the back burner through our busy lives and meeting all the expectations were meant to meet. I love hearing stories of women reconnecting as they come into their third act. And finding their power through the process. 💓
Indeed-crafting is ancient wisdom. The Goddesses themselves were weavers, potters, and artists. The muses inspire us. The Fates weave our fates and destiny. The distaff is the symbol for many Goddesses cross-culturally. Grandmother Spider weaves the world into being. Women have gathered to share wisdom while crafting and making "practical" items since the beginning of time. There were the Frankish women who wove their prayers and incantations into clothing during wars. There were the tricoteuses who knit in front of the guillotines in protest.
“There were the tricoteuses who knit in front of the guillotines in protest.” Wow! I did not know that. Thanks for sharing. This would be a fascinating topic for someone to write about on Substack.
Art and Craft is a powerful tool to keep us emotionally and mentally well, I had the idea of Art as Integration on a recent yoga and meditation retreat - in order to integrate all of the wonderful practices into my normal daily life, I can use art and craft - which then can be shared - a ripple out of sorts.
I love this! Making give us the psychic space and quiet for more inner listening for sure. We move into that inner space for integration. What a great insight (yay yoga!) for you to gather your wisdom, practices and craft to make a real difference. It's all how Creative energy loves to flow.
Great take on crafting! Much like the Romance novel, creative forms that appeal primarily to women get shelved by male critics as less than. No need for us to accept that artificial hierarchy.
Gosh, yeah... so many things get shelved in this fashion. No need to accept that for sure. I always think about the knitting group I spend some time with - these women are always out there knitting hats for cancer patients, scarves for folks in need, and drumming up awareness for causes. Having just gone through Helene here in the Asheville area, everyone is helping, but the women knitting and weaving and creating are out there with this mutual aid vibe that's so empowering. ❤️
this is an excellent piece stace and well worth the buzz it's generating. it reminds me of sarah corbett of craftivist. I interviewed her for the podcast awhile back. she spoke so beautifully about the power of craft as a political act: both gentle and fierce, beautiful and provocative. thank you for writing this.
YES! Making things is when I feel the most alive. It’s life affirming and deeply satisfying.
And the things themselves vibrate with a sort of energy- of love of effort, of mattering and care.
I also think it’s important to realize that lots of things sold in big box stores are handmade- they’ve just been made by people who were not paid for their labor, from materials grown on faraway lands. There’s such a lack of dignity in the exchange. A devastation. A sadness at the material being treated as a worthless “trend” so quickly after purchase.
It matters who makes the things in our lives. It matters where the material came from and where it goes.
I agree! There absolutely is an energy to the things we create - ours and the vibration of the creation itself - it's story. It can indeed be palpable. I love that you create with that much love and intention ❤️🔥And I appreciate you pointing out how so much of what we purchase or amass lacks this. Another reason to support the makers in the places we live.
Your statement "Because crafting isn’t just about making something beautiful; it’s about making something that matters. And it always has been." is so powerful. I have been crafting for decades but in the last few years have become demotivated. I now realise that I only want to craft something that will be used and useful.
But that gives a double benefit. I can enjoy the crafting and then use it, or give it to someone who will enjoy using it.
Kate, I struggle with that sometimes, too - especially for the 'craft' that I have created and sold in the past. I think about starting a project because I long to get back to it, but then I think, 'What will I do with it.?' And skip the whole thing because I don't need another needle-felted piece in my house. I miss out on the making then, which can be the whole point for me. I've started gifting those. And then there's the making that helps me shift into my inner world, the craft and crafting that matters to my emotional and spiritual well-being... that too gets shoved aside all too often (especially for busy women) because we say it doesn't matter. I hope you get back to your craft no matter how it gets used. I have no doubt the process is lovely for you, and what you make will be a gift for others. ❤️
Thank you for your comment. I agree that crafting can make a big difference to us both emotionally and spiritually. I have started to make small embroidered bags. I can sew something personal, and include embroidered words, and everyone needs a small bag for something. I hope you are finding time to craft.
Very insightful article - I knew about the Arts and Crafts movement with William Morris and the rejection of mass production, but I hadn’t considered the wider context. I’ve always found doing crafts an escape from the tyranny of family life into a personal space I claim for myself to be creative. Thanks for your article 👍
Thank you Janine. Crafting, art, making... whatever form it takes on any given day for me is like that for me too, a way to reconnect with myself, my imagination and creativity. It opens me, settles me, and helps me see things anew. This part of our lives is so important - for us and for those who connect with what we create. Thanks for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts. Keep crafting! ❤️
Creativity thrives at the edge of chaos—it interprets resistance in ways that words alone cannot. Fiber arts, like all craft, have always existed in that transformative space, weaving rebellion into every stitch, every thread, every pattern. Dismissed as “women’s work,” yet powerful enough to tell histories, challenge norms, and demand visibility. What we create isn’t just beautiful—it’s defiant, enduring, and deeply human.
Reading this beautiful piece today, International Women's Day, feels even more poignant. Women and crafting. Surely the very heart of what makes us human.
Thank you Laura! Your comment about this making us human really resonated. Something clicked inside. There are so many events that are happening today on this international women's day, but I have been drawn to the little gatherings. The impromptu groups of women heading to the coffee house to knit, to talk, to shore each other up, to talk about how to move forward. There's a big part of me that needs that now. I'm always in awe of those who can get out and rally, but there's also a place for those of us who need a quieter space to find our voice and is there too.
I totally agree, often those quiet gatherings are indeed what sustain us. They are the threads that weave us together and hold us in this place. I hope you can enjoy some nourishing space with those women today 🙏🏼
You just reminded me of the many ways that the terminology of fibre arts (spinning, weaving, sewing, knitting and more) are used as metaphors for life, fate, knowledge, wisdom, community and so much more...
It's ironic that even in "Radical" art movements like the Bauhaus,women were regulated to fiber arts like quilting. Anni Albers quilts are much more compelling than her husband's paintings.
Yeah, she's one of how many women (countless) who have been pushed in a direction due to 'the rules.' But thankfully, she found her passion in that fiber work. She taught at Black Mountain College, which was close to where I live. And fiber art is a big part of the art community here which is lovely to see.
Making things is literally magic - we imagine something in our minds and then create it with our hands. We physically change the world.
You're so right Donna. And that first step — going from the blank page to a first sentence, an empty canvas to a brush stroke, or a fluff of wool into a shape — is potent magic indeed.
Oh hi Donna! Yes, I feel that magic! I love wielding this magic power.
What I just recently wrote about in my latest post!
Oooh! I'll be sure to check that out, thanks!
I have watched PBS “Craft in America “. It became so clear to me how crafts were/are such political statements.
OOh. I'm going to need to check that out! Thanks!
This is beautiful. As I enter my later years. I find returning to crafting as many things as possible a return to nature and what is natural for me.
Thank you for sharing this.
Angela, me too. I think as we women get older we do rekindle our relationship with creativity as an energy... A life force. A creative life force. And making and crafting and creating is a really beautiful way into that energy that, for so many of us, gets blocked off and put on the back burner through our busy lives and meeting all the expectations were meant to meet. I love hearing stories of women reconnecting as they come into their third act. And finding their power through the process. 💓
For me it fills the space of my now empty hands as I painfully maneuver the empty nest. Oh! They do not tell us the pain of the empty nest! 😭
Oh gosh. I bet that's hard. A new journey for you all. 💕🫶🏼
🧡🙏🏾🧡
Indeed-crafting is ancient wisdom. The Goddesses themselves were weavers, potters, and artists. The muses inspire us. The Fates weave our fates and destiny. The distaff is the symbol for many Goddesses cross-culturally. Grandmother Spider weaves the world into being. Women have gathered to share wisdom while crafting and making "practical" items since the beginning of time. There were the Frankish women who wove their prayers and incantations into clothing during wars. There were the tricoteuses who knit in front of the guillotines in protest.
Yes—crafting is more than creation; it is a lineage, a ritual, a whisper from the ancients woven into our hands. Love this, thank you! 💕
“There were the tricoteuses who knit in front of the guillotines in protest.” Wow! I did not know that. Thanks for sharing. This would be a fascinating topic for someone to write about on Substack.
It would be! Hmmm…maybe you? Me? 🤷😊
You!
Art and Craft is a powerful tool to keep us emotionally and mentally well, I had the idea of Art as Integration on a recent yoga and meditation retreat - in order to integrate all of the wonderful practices into my normal daily life, I can use art and craft - which then can be shared - a ripple out of sorts.
I love this! Making give us the psychic space and quiet for more inner listening for sure. We move into that inner space for integration. What a great insight (yay yoga!) for you to gather your wisdom, practices and craft to make a real difference. It's all how Creative energy loves to flow.
Great take on crafting! Much like the Romance novel, creative forms that appeal primarily to women get shelved by male critics as less than. No need for us to accept that artificial hierarchy.
Gosh, yeah... so many things get shelved in this fashion. No need to accept that for sure. I always think about the knitting group I spend some time with - these women are always out there knitting hats for cancer patients, scarves for folks in need, and drumming up awareness for causes. Having just gone through Helene here in the Asheville area, everyone is helping, but the women knitting and weaving and creating are out there with this mutual aid vibe that's so empowering. ❤️
this is an excellent piece stace and well worth the buzz it's generating. it reminds me of sarah corbett of craftivist. I interviewed her for the podcast awhile back. she spoke so beautifully about the power of craft as a political act: both gentle and fierce, beautiful and provocative. thank you for writing this.
Thanks! I'll need to look her up! Sounds interesting. 💕
Betsy Ross = radical, rebellious crafter
Indeed! 🙌🏼
YES! Making things is when I feel the most alive. It’s life affirming and deeply satisfying.
And the things themselves vibrate with a sort of energy- of love of effort, of mattering and care.
I also think it’s important to realize that lots of things sold in big box stores are handmade- they’ve just been made by people who were not paid for their labor, from materials grown on faraway lands. There’s such a lack of dignity in the exchange. A devastation. A sadness at the material being treated as a worthless “trend” so quickly after purchase.
It matters who makes the things in our lives. It matters where the material came from and where it goes.
I agree! There absolutely is an energy to the things we create - ours and the vibration of the creation itself - it's story. It can indeed be palpable. I love that you create with that much love and intention ❤️🔥And I appreciate you pointing out how so much of what we purchase or amass lacks this. Another reason to support the makers in the places we live.
Your statement "Because crafting isn’t just about making something beautiful; it’s about making something that matters. And it always has been." is so powerful. I have been crafting for decades but in the last few years have become demotivated. I now realise that I only want to craft something that will be used and useful.
But that gives a double benefit. I can enjoy the crafting and then use it, or give it to someone who will enjoy using it.
Kate, I struggle with that sometimes, too - especially for the 'craft' that I have created and sold in the past. I think about starting a project because I long to get back to it, but then I think, 'What will I do with it.?' And skip the whole thing because I don't need another needle-felted piece in my house. I miss out on the making then, which can be the whole point for me. I've started gifting those. And then there's the making that helps me shift into my inner world, the craft and crafting that matters to my emotional and spiritual well-being... that too gets shoved aside all too often (especially for busy women) because we say it doesn't matter. I hope you get back to your craft no matter how it gets used. I have no doubt the process is lovely for you, and what you make will be a gift for others. ❤️
Thank you for your comment. I agree that crafting can make a big difference to us both emotionally and spiritually. I have started to make small embroidered bags. I can sew something personal, and include embroidered words, and everyone needs a small bag for something. I hope you are finding time to craft.
Very insightful article - I knew about the Arts and Crafts movement with William Morris and the rejection of mass production, but I hadn’t considered the wider context. I’ve always found doing crafts an escape from the tyranny of family life into a personal space I claim for myself to be creative. Thanks for your article 👍
Thank you Janine. Crafting, art, making... whatever form it takes on any given day for me is like that for me too, a way to reconnect with myself, my imagination and creativity. It opens me, settles me, and helps me see things anew. This part of our lives is so important - for us and for those who connect with what we create. Thanks for reading and taking the time to share your thoughts. Keep crafting! ❤️
Creativity thrives at the edge of chaos—it interprets resistance in ways that words alone cannot. Fiber arts, like all craft, have always existed in that transformative space, weaving rebellion into every stitch, every thread, every pattern. Dismissed as “women’s work,” yet powerful enough to tell histories, challenge norms, and demand visibility. What we create isn’t just beautiful—it’s defiant, enduring, and deeply human.
Absolutely! 🙌🏼 A big yes to all of this, well said.
A couple of books people might be interested in:
The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World
by Virginia Postrel and
The Subversive Stitch
by Rozsika Parker
Thank you for the recommendations!
Reading this beautiful piece today, International Women's Day, feels even more poignant. Women and crafting. Surely the very heart of what makes us human.
Thank you Laura! Your comment about this making us human really resonated. Something clicked inside. There are so many events that are happening today on this international women's day, but I have been drawn to the little gatherings. The impromptu groups of women heading to the coffee house to knit, to talk, to shore each other up, to talk about how to move forward. There's a big part of me that needs that now. I'm always in awe of those who can get out and rally, but there's also a place for those of us who need a quieter space to find our voice and is there too.
I totally agree, often those quiet gatherings are indeed what sustain us. They are the threads that weave us together and hold us in this place. I hope you can enjoy some nourishing space with those women today 🙏🏼
You just reminded me of the many ways that the terminology of fibre arts (spinning, weaving, sewing, knitting and more) are used as metaphors for life, fate, knowledge, wisdom, community and so much more...
That's so true!
Oh yes, that's such a strong metaphor isn't it. There is so much connection though those ideas.
This was a balm on my soul today…thank you, I so needed it!!♥️
Oh Leslie, thank you. ❤️
It's ironic that even in "Radical" art movements like the Bauhaus,women were regulated to fiber arts like quilting. Anni Albers quilts are much more compelling than her husband's paintings.
Yeah, she's one of how many women (countless) who have been pushed in a direction due to 'the rules.' But thankfully, she found her passion in that fiber work. She taught at Black Mountain College, which was close to where I live. And fiber art is a big part of the art community here which is lovely to see.
Craft in America, again! There’s an episode on Black Mountain College.